Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical area, the second-largest metropolitan area in North Louisiana.
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place in the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States from April 25 to 28, 2011, leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake. Over 175 tornadoes struck Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, which were the most severely damaged states. Other destructive tornadoes occurred in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, and Virginia, with storms also affecting other states in the Southern and Eastern United States. In total, 367 tornadoes were confirmed by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) and Government of Canada's Environment Canada in 21 states from Texas to New York to southern Canada. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak. April 27 was the most active day, with a record 223 tornadoes touching down that day from midnight to midnight CDT. Four of the tornadoes were rated EF5, which is the highest ranking on the Enhanced Fujita scale; typically these tornadoes are recorded no more than once a year.
The 2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak was a significant and deadly tornado outbreak on February 28 and February 29, 2012. It is so called because the second day was a leap day. It caused severe damage in several regions, especially the Great Plains and Ohio Valley regions. It also resulted in several tornadoes in the Central Plains, a rarity for the time of year. The most destructive and deadly tornado was a violent early-morning EF4 that hit Harrisburg, Illinois, killing 8 people. In total, 15 people died in the outbreak. Just two days later, a larger and deadlier outbreak devastated the Ohio Valley and Southern United States.
In the afternoon hours of February 10, 2013, a large multiple-vortex tornado devastated the cities of West Hattiesburg, Hattiesburg, and Petal, Mississippi. The tornado was one of eight that touched down in southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama that day. It reached a maximum path width of 0.75 miles (1.21 km) in its path through the Hattiesburg area and reached estimated maximum sustained winds of 170 mph (270 km/h) in Oak Grove neighborhood of West Hattiesburg. It destroyed many structures and impacted University of Southern Mississippi and two high schools. Mississippi was declared a federal disaster area by President Barack Obama, and a state of emergency was issued by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
An unusually prolific and very destructive late-winter tornado outbreak resulted in significant damage and numerous casualties across the southern and eastern half of the United States between February 23–24, 2016. Lasting over a day and a half, the outbreak produced a total of 61 tornadoes across eleven states, which ranked it as one of the largest February tornado outbreaks in the United States on record, with only the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak having recorded more. In addition, it was also one of the largest winter tornado outbreaks overall as well. The most significant and intense tornadoes of the event were four EF3 tornadoes that struck southeastern Louisiana, Pensacola, Florida, Evergreen, Virginia, and Tappahannock, Virginia. Tornadoes were also reported in other places like Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Severe thunderstorms, hail and gusty winds were also felt in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic states on February 24 as well.
A prolific and deadly winter tornado outbreak struck areas across the Southeast United States between January 21–23, 2017. Lasting just under two days, the outbreak produced a total of 81 tornadoes, cementing its status as the second-largest January tornado outbreak and the third-largest winter tornado outbreak since 1950. Furthermore, it was the largest outbreak on record in Georgia with 42 tornadoes confirmed in the state. The most significant tornadoes were three EF3 tornadoes that heavily damaged or destroyed portions of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Albany and Adel, Georgia. A total of 20 people were killed by tornadoes—mainly during the pre-dawn hours of the outbreak—making it the second-deadliest outbreak in January since 1950, behind the 1969 Hazlehurst, Mississippi tornado outbreak that killed 32 people. In addition, the tornado death toll was higher than the entire previous year. In the aftermath of the outbreak, relief organizations assisted in clean-up and aid distribution. Total economic losses from the event reached at least $1.3 billion.
A small but damaging outbreak of 15 tornadoes impacted the Southeastern United States on February 7, 2017. The most damaging tornado of the outbreak was a large and powerful EF3 tornado. The tornado caused considerable damage along its path and left approximately 10,000 homes without electricity. 33 injuries occurred in the area after the tornado hit near Chef Menteur Highway with hundreds of structures sustaining moderate to significant damage along the ten-mile path. In response to the disaster, Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency.
The tornado outbreak sequence of May 2019 was a prolonged series of destructive tornadoes and tornado outbreaks affecting the United States over the course of nearly two weeks, producing a total of 400 tornadoes, including 53 significant events (EF2+). Eighteen of these were EF3 tornadoes, spanning over multiple states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio, with additional tornadoes confirmed across a region extending from California to New Jersey. Two EF4 tornadoes occurred, one in Dayton, Ohio, and the other in Linwood, Kansas. Four tornadoes during this outbreak were fatal, causing a total of eight fatalities. The deadliest of these occurred on May 22 near Golden City, Missouri, where an EF3 tornado took three lives, including an elderly couple in their eighties. The damaging series of tornadoes that occurred in Indiana and Ohio on the evening of May 27 during this event is sometimes locally referred to as the Memorial Day tornado outbreak of 2019, which became the fourth costliest weather event in Ohio history. The near continuous stream of systems also produced to widespread flash and river flooding, along with damaging winds and large hail.
A significant severe weather and tornado outbreak affected the Southern United States between December 16–17, 2019. Discrete supercells developed in the early morning on December 16 and moved northeast, spawning multiple strong, long-tracked tornadoes in cities such as Alexandria and in Laurel before congealing into an eastward-moving squall line. During the outbreak, the National Weather Service issued several PDS tornado warnings as well as a rare tornado emergency for Alexandria. In addition to this, the Storm Prediction Center issued six tornado watches for the outbreak. The event happened to take place on the same date of another outbreak in a similar area 19 years earlier.
A small but deadly tornado outbreak affected West and Middle Tennessee on the night of March 2 and into the morning of March 3, 2020, including a high-end EF3 tornado that hit Nashville and Mount Juliet, becoming the 6th costliest tornado in United States history, and a violent EF4 tornado that impacted areas in and just west of Cookeville. A total of 25 people were killed by the tornadoes, with an additional 309 being injured, and more than 70,000 lost electricity. The path of the Nashville tornado was very similar to the one that hit East Nashville in 1998. A few additional tornadoes were also confirmed in Alabama, southeastern Missouri, and western Kentucky. Total damage from the event reached $1.607 billion according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
A widespread and deadly tornado outbreak affected the Southeastern United States on Easter Sunday and Monday, April 12–13, 2020. Several tornadoes were responsible for prompting tornado emergencies, including the first one to be issued by the National Weather Service in Charleston, South Carolina. A large squall line formed and tracked through the mid-Atlantic on April 13, prompting more tornado warnings and watches. A total of 15 watches were produced during the course of the event, two of which were designated Particularly Dangerous Situations.
A significant tornado outbreak sequence took place from March 24–28, 2021 in the Southern United States, just one week after another outbreak affected similar regions. There were 43 tornadoes confirmed across 11 states, with the bulk of activity primarily on March 25, which resulted in the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issuing its second high-risk outlook for the month of March, as well as the second high-risk outlook for 2021. Several intense tornadoes touched down on that day, including ones that prompted the issuance of rare tornado emergencies near Hoover, Alabama, Brent and Centreville, Alabama, and in the Newnan, Georgia area. March 27 also saw widespread tornado activity mainly across East Texas, Southern Arkansas, Louisiana, and Western Tennessee with several strong tornadoes touching down. Scattered to widespread wind and hail damage occurred throughout the outbreak sequence, and repeated rounds of heavy rain caused widespread severe flash and river flooding across much of Tennessee.
A deadly late-season tornado outbreak, the deadliest on record in December, produced catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities across portions of the Southern United States and Ohio Valley from the evening of December 10 to the early morning of December 11, 2021. The event developed as a trough progressed eastward across the United States, interacting with an unseasonably moist and unstable environment across the Mississippi Valley. Tornado activity began in northeastern Arkansas, before progressing into Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
During the late evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a violent, long-tracked and devastating EF4 tornado, sometimes referred to as the Western Kentucky tornado, Mayfield tornado, or The Beast, moved across Western Kentucky, United States, producing severe-to-catastrophic damage in numerous towns, including Mayfield, Princeton, Dawson Springs, and Bremen. This tornado was the second significant tornado in an exceedingly long-tracked tornado family; it began just inside northern Obion County, Tennessee – a few miles after another long-tracked tornado that traveled through northeast Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, and northwest Tennessee – and dissipated in western Obion County. After crossing into Kentucky, the tornado moved through eleven counties of the Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field regions, at times becoming wrapped in rain during its almost three-hour lifespan that covered 165.6 miles (266.5 km). It was the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in an outbreak that produced numerous, strong tornadoes in several states; this tornado caused 57 deaths.
An early-season tornado outbreak impacted the Southeastern United States on January 12, 2023. The result of a mid-level trough moving through, moisture and the presence of a strong low-level jet aided in the development of numerous severe and tornadic thunderstorms. Early in the outbreak, a strong EF2 tornado caused considerable damage in Winston County, Alabama, while another EF2 tornado struck just south of Greensboro. A destructive high-end EF2 tornado struck Selma, causing widespread damage and two injuries. The same storm produced a long-lived EF3 tornado that moved through or near Old Kingston, Titus, Equality, and Lake Martin, resulting in seven fatalities and several injuries in Autauga County alone. Another EF2 tornado from the storm struck areas in or around Five Points and Standing Rock before crossing into Georgia. After the dissipation of that tornado, nine more tornadoes, five of which were strong, caused heavy damage across west-central Georgia, especially in LaGrange, Griffin, and Experiment, the second one of which was impacted by four tornadoes in the span of 10 minutes, including two that were rated EF2 and EF3 respectively. Another EF2 tornado from the storm caused major damage and another fatality in the Jackson Lake area as well; an indirect death from the tornado also occurred the following day. Elsewhere, other tornadoes caused damage in Sumter and Mobile counties in Alabama, as well as parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and the Carolinas. In all, 43 tornadoes were confirmed.
During the early morning hours on January 23, 2012, a large and intense tornado, commonly known as the Center Point Tornado, struck the northeastern part of the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area, particularly the cities of Center Point and Clay. The National Weather Service rated the most intense damage caused by the tornado EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. During the tornado's 22-minute lifespan, it reached EF3 intensity three times, damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures, killed one person, and injured at least 75 others. In Center Point, the tornado damaged and destroyed buildings of the Center Point Elementary School, causing millions in damage. Residential insurance losses from Center Point and Clay were estimated at being up to $30 million.
The 2020 Cookeville tornado was an extremely destructive and fast-moving tornado tracked across Putnam County, Tennessee, directly impacting the cities of Baxter and Cookeville in the early morning hours of March 3, 2020. The National Weather Service forecast office in Nashville, Tennessee, rated the worst of the damage from the tornado EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale with winds estimated at 175 miles per hour (282 km/h).
In the evening hours of April 29, 2022, a strong and well-documented multi-vortex tornado moved through the city of Andover, located in the US state of Kansas. The tornado tracked 12.8 miles (20.6 km) through the area, injuring three and inflicting severe damage to structures located on the eastern side of Andover.
In the early hours of December 11, 2021, two large and strong tornadoes would hit the cities of Rockfield and Bowling Green, located in Warren County, Kentucky. The first tornado would heavily damage the city and directly kill sixteen people, while the second tornado would produce further damage but cause no injuries. The tornadoes touched down as part of a larger tornado outbreak that hit the southern United States, and the first tornado would be the second-deadliest of the entire outbreak.
